Bob McDonald

9.6

Having my annual 2002 Penfolds Bin 389 - now 3 bottles left. Definitely a beautiful mature Cabernet Shiraz from this cool vintage. Has the Penfolds DNA of. Chocolate, Mocha and Black fruits. Wonderful balance - very polished with at least 5 to 10 years in front of it. This is why one cellars Penfolds Reds. Your patience is repaid in spades with the finished product…..maturing at glacial pace. My plan is to have the next one in 2024, then 2026, then 2028. — 8 months ago

Stephanie Losee

9.2

2000 vintage—bought it on a lark. I get the bretty note another rater detected, but mostly it’s sublime classic Left Bank Bordeaux, but lacking a bit of nose — 2 years ago

Mike Saviage

9.9

Tasted blind. Deep purple color. Looks very young, compared to the 45 Margaux next to it. Almost opaque. Notes of black fruit, cracked walnuts, sweet fruit, raspberry and some cedar desk. Super rich in the mouth. Seems young and is firm, but tannins are softened and the mouthfeel is velvet touch. Long finish. It peacocks all night. The walnuts thing leads my guess to Latour, but can this be the 45? Is it a 61 or 82? Could be... I go with it being a 59 given how young it seems. Just an amazing bottle of wine, open for ~9 hours by the time we left, it seemed to effortlessly power along. Thanks Stan! — 2 years ago

Mike Beltran

9.0

1985 vintage and in good condition. Cork was solid but brittle. Fine color defined Cabernet aromatics with more years of enjoyment. Double decanted because of the cork issue. Very good now and has another 8+ years left. Excellent Napa Cabernet.😀🍷 — 5 years ago

Geoffrey Green

9.6

Pristine cork, decanted for 5 hours: still balanced, complex, and harmonious as a 20 year old in a challenging vintage. Fruit still lively, with mellow tannins—this still has a few years left. Came out best for me in an evening of great old wines: ‘98 Corison, ‘98 Montelena Estate, plus de la Tour ‘99. Never underestimate the consistency of a great estate, year after year. Glad I have another bottle or two. — 5 years ago

Sara Stuckey

9.1

I’d never heard of “White” Pinot Noir before, but I’m sitting in a restaurant and it was on the “by the glass” list, so here we are.

This does not suck. It’s quite refreshing, actually. I’m a big fan of Sauvignon Blanc and I’d say this splits the difference between the crisp fruitiness of the Sav Blanc and the über-lightness of a Pinot Grigio.

Also, is it weird that I seem to detect a hint of blue cheese in this wine. (A good thing, I think). I don’t know the vintage of this bottle, but I could recommend it! — 6 years ago

Sean Wallner - WSET II

9.6

Dark red fruits and high tannins. This is a bolder Pinot Noir with hints of earthy tones and a long finish. — 8 years ago

Laura Catena

9.2

Incredibly dense and smooth with brightness and fruit left - a touch alcoholic but goes along with the overall richness of the wine. — 8 years ago

Greg Gregory

9.2

The right bank wine of the night. Still some baby fat at the outset but incredibly alive with years left. — 9 years ago

with Don

Robert Agler

9.4

Typical tobacco and cedar but plenty of fruit and life left. No need to hurry. — 9 years ago

Christian Fischer

9.5

An incredibly strenuous week comes to an end and this top shelve Napa is just what I needed right now. This is beautifully balanced with a bit of menthol on the nose, tart yet smooth red fruit with just the right level of acidity to make this refreshing. It is a monster of a medium bodied Napa Cab with decades left - great to drink right now though :). This is the 2014, not sure why Dectable keeps thinking this is 2011 — 9 months ago

Deborah M

9.3

Another one from last night’s birthday dinner. I had a little left to revisit on day 2 and it is still amazing. What a classic. I could sit with this for a long time. The smokey, deep dark fruit/licorice, and velvety mouthfeel, all make this wine shine. This one will definitely improve with more age. Easily one of the top 5 wines of the year for me. — 2 years ago

Kirk F

9.2

Special birth year bottle for a milestone birthday this week. The cork was almost entirely intact and we double decanted to catch all the sediment. A beautiful brick color in the glass, evolving over 4 hours and drinking nicely. Plenty of fruit left and I also picked up a little salinity/olive savoriness. Glad a few friends popped by to share this with me #50inquarantine #socialdistancing 🍷😷🙌🏻 — 4 years ago

Shay A

9.4

Monthly WTF guys blind tasting group. This month was our annual, and famed, Left Bank vs Right Bank theme. All wines served blind as usual. Started off with a Rosé and a champagne. Great night.

This was one of my favorites of the night. One of the best young Bordeaux’s I’ve tasted. Ripe and modern nose (fruit forward) with smoked meat and baked blackberry pie. The palate revealed cocoa/dark chocolate, baking spices and a hint of blue fruit wrapped by black fruit. Big. Will obviously get better, but was shocked how good this was now. I called this ‘12-14 Left Bank. — 5 years ago

with Andrew, Jack and 6 others

David From The 504

9.2

Go to bottle of Hermitage, good price point Syrah what else to say! Plenty of time left in this. — 7 years ago

Jeff Choy

9.0

Still a lot of life left despite the vintage. After decanting for an hour it is hard to find any flaw with it. — 7 years ago

Joe Lucca

9.0

Funk on top of funk on the nose. Basement, wet leaves, forest floor, cedar water, eucalyptus, and mushroom. Not much fruit left; the palate is austere and tart with red currant, mint, tobacco, and some oak. A nice old world opener for the night. Thanks @Frank for gifting this! — 8 years ago

David Taylor

9.5

Just a really great milk stout. Hard to beat it, especially with the on point addition of nitro. — 8 years ago

Jeremy Giesbrecht

9.5

Um yeah... #BOOM status granted for this at the #yulwinethrowdown . 81 not the best of vintages and wines are reportedly past peak but this first growth was not. Very interesting flavour profile, certainly secondary characteristics but structurally still pretty sound. I was glad to find it still alive and in my opinion had many more years left before the big decline. Awesome privilege to have tasted. — 9 years ago

Byron C Mayes

9.7

Still really tight. Dark red purple. Classic cassis notes. Still plenty of time left. 2021 maybe? — 10 years ago

Robert Torretti

9.4

A lovely bottle of classic Lafite Rothschild. Ordered with old friends and new at Waldhaus Sils on the fourth anniversary of my father’s death. He was biased to Cabernet Sauvignon / Left Bank Blends, and appreciated his Lafite, even if he stopped buying them as prices got out of hand. 1995 was chosen in honor of the year that I met my friend Julian, with whom I have worked at two companies across 20+ years and now count as a dear friend and peer in our industry. The bottle was in great shape, likely bought en primeur and stored in the Alpine retreat’s cellars (tour tomorrow!). Oscar, the manager and sommelier has been at the Waldhaus for 32 years, so it was purchased in his early days. The tannins were very well integrated, with some dark fruits, delicious tobacco and cedar, and a long finish. — 10 months ago

Dan Michael

9.0

Nice wine, very lush and soft, low acid, tons of blue fruit, dense for a “left bank” style, definitely more CA style. Nice with our brunch table — 2 years ago

Mike Saviage

9.6

From a great looking bottle with a fill almost into the neck. Double decanted and left in the bottle for 5 hours before attacking it. Amber color. Good weight and haunting nose. Notes of old cedar, mocha, plums, cola, dark fruit, molasses and some sweet red cherry. Early on it’s all about the amazing nose. But with time the wine gains weight and you have a gorgeous old St Estephe in front of you. Still giving its all, and although the fruit is somewhat faded, this has complexity and structure that still drives the experience. And that nose is simply stunning. Great showing. — 2 years ago

Bruce Leboff

9.4

A beauty with great depth. Lovely. Great balance and well interested tannins. Lovely. But lots of life left. — 5 years ago

with Michael and David

Eric Casias

8.9

Was a little oxidized. Wasn’t stored properly for a couple of years. But, still had some life left in it. — 6 years ago

John Kanellopoulos

9.2

Left bank Bordeaux at its best! full body deep maroon red, mature tannins opening up with every sip...
I am quite surprised they offer this at the Harvard Club of NY! — 7 years ago

M Cromwell

9.3

2 hr decant and it needed it. This has significant life left as there is plenty of acid and tannin left. Early this showed cherries, saline and soy at 1 hr. We started drinking at 2 hrs with significant blackberry, black cherry, cedar, graphite and pencil shavings. Consumed over 90 min and raspberries began to show up near the end, but even then still some tannins and acid left. Interesting to see where this goes in 3 years. I would've put this as a 2010. Good, but has room to get even better, even at 11 yrs old. — 7 years ago

Peter Coticchia

9.5

Amazing ! Perfect, no tannins left, and lots of fruit. Very smooth and perfectly aged. — 8 years ago

Matthew Beckman

9.3

Lovely nose of cherry and tobacco...plenty of time left for this but approachable now. My wine of the night — 9 years ago

Charles Schneider

9.1

Showing well for the age. Texture was pure silk. Good bit of fruit still left in the old bones. Can't wait to show Jean-Louis Carbonnier. — 10 years ago